By CHUSA SICHONE –
MORE than 400 former Government workers retrenched during the Public Service Reform Programme (PSRP) have died before getting their benefits, the Sunday Times has learnt.
The deceased totalling 490 are part of the 19, 575 former Government workers retrenched during the PSRP.
Representative of the retrenched workers Elijah Sakala, who disclosed the development in an interview, said the 490 were laid off in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and were from various parts of the country.
“The retrenched former Government workers who passed away from the years 1997, 1998 and 1999 are 490. They are part of the 19, 575,” he said.
Mr Sakala said the 490 died as they were still pushing for their terminal benefits, while others were currently grappling with various ailments as they waited for their dues.
Mr Sakala said only 3,003 were paid by the Ministry of Justice following the release of K8 million by the Ministry of Finance in October, last year, leaving 16, 572 retrenchees still unpaid.
Delays to pay the retrenchees their packages have prompted them to appeal to President Edgar Lungu to intervene in the matter.
Efforts to get a comment from Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula and Attorney General Likando Kalaluka on the matter proved futile as their mobile phones went unanswered.
The Public Service Management Division (PSMD) in a statement to the Sunday Times in August, last year disclosed that the retrenchees were paid their packages in line with the redundancy package agreement between the PSMD and the National Union of Public Service Workers.
However, the retrenchees sued Government through Messrs Lukona Chambers, Okware and Associates, DB Mupeta and Company, Robson Malipenga and Company and Milner Katolo and Associates claiming that there were some underpayments regarding calculations of Long Service Bonuses.
This was a case in which John Muyoya and 19, 577 other retrenchees sued the Attorney General seeking clarification on the payment of their benefits.
The court ordered that the long service bonuses be re-computed in accordance with the PSMD provisions of Circular No. B2 of 1997 and the Redundancy Package Agreement between the Division and the National Union of Public Service Workers of June 11, 1992.
PSMD verified and re-computed the benefits and submitted a report comprising 12, 270 Plaintiffs on November 21, 2014 to the Attorney General on the re-computed figures and shared the report with the Plaintiffs’ lawyers for their verification before payments were made.
The re-computed figures showed that 51 percent were overpaid, 26 percent underpaid, 15 per cent correctly paid and eight per cent did not qualify.